This is part of my Third Friday Cocktails series. Find cocktail recipes, drink mixing techniques and lore right here on the 3rd Friday of the month.
As part of my summer fruit hoarding, I had packed a bunch of fresh peaches and blueberries away in the freezer so I could make jam in the cooler fall weather. It occurred to me that subbing in a blueberry-peach syrup would make a darned delicious drink and here we are.
I haven’t figured out what to call it yet. If you’ve got a suggestion, drop it in the comments. It marries summer flavors and spicy, grassy rye in a frothy drink. It’s the perfect fusion of late summer and early fall.
What you need:
2 ounces rye
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1 egg white
3/4 ounce blueberry-peach syrup
To make the blueberry-peach syrup, combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of warm (not hot) water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add 1 cup of blueberries and 1 cup of peaches to the water and mash gently with a potato masher to macerate the fruits. Let the fruit infuse the syrup for at least 12 hours. I use a mason jar for this and let the fruit and syrup sit in the fridge for a few days. Once the fruit has flavored the syrup, strain the syrup with a fine strainer. Store in the refrigerator for a week. If you add an ounce of vodka to the syrup, it will keep much longer in the fridge.
To make the cocktail:
Combine rye, lemon juice, syrup and egg white in an empty cocktail shaker. Vigorously shake to emulsify the egg white (this is referred to as dry shaking and is used with egg white cocktails to preserve the froth). Add ice to the shaker and gently stir to chill the drink.
Pour into a coupe. Garnish with a slice of peach or a few blueberries. Enjoy on the lanai while you savor the cooler temperatures and changing foliage.
Tip for more froth
Dry shaking lets the egg white achieve maximum froth before the ice joins the drink. Although the ice brings a desireable chill to the cocktail, it does diminish the froth, even when gently introduced. If you want a cool drink with lots of froth, chill your rye, lemon juice and syrup before mixing and skip the ice completely. It will be a slightly stronger drink but the syrup and lemon juice do a nice job of tempering that.
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